Archive for the ‘Make & Take Gourmet’ Category

Looks like the Bellso’s are bound and determined to make some of my predictions come true! We’ll have to keep an eye on this, we might have the winner for the first franchise to close for 2009.

Michele Bellso and her ill-fated Make and Take Gourmet meal assembly kitchen franchise chain continue to provide compelling examples of how NOT to start and run a franchise chain. Their newest lesson plan includes a special guest appearance by, pound for pound, the hardest working franchise enforcement agency: the Maryland Attorney General.

Here are some of the allegations:
* Make & Take Gourmet Sold Unregistered Franchises
* Make & Take Gourmet Violated Franchise Disclosure Laws
* Make & Take Gourmet Skirted MD Escrow Requirements
* Make & Take Gourmet Made Illegal Earnings Claims

NEW HARTFORD â€” When the former Make and Take Gourmet opened its doors in the New Hartford Orchard shopping complex last year, co-owners Gary and Marc Brockett were excited to bring the nationwide meal assembly concept to the Mohawk Valley.

Unfortunately, the assembly aspect of the business did not catch on and stores across the state in areas like Clifton Park, Camillus, Baldwinsville, Vestal and Fayetteville have closed. Faced with possible closure, the Brockett’s knew they needed to revamp their business.

Sadly, the earnings claim is nothing new. This has been raised by many owners and is certainly at the heart of the lawsuit against Dream Dinners. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more of these as time goes by.

And I’m sure we’ve all come to expect that franchisors don’t think they can ever do anything wrong and when owners lose millions that it’s their own fault and legal action is frivolous.

But what about this claim that Make & Take wasn’t even licensed to sell franchises? That certainly makes me curious. More than just overselling your product, that kind of behavior is downright illegal. There are allegations they even circumvented the laws just so they could sell franchises.

“In addition, Einbinder says, Make & Take was not registered with the state to sell franchises when it dealt with the franchisees in the lawsuit.”

SYRACUSE – Three former franchisees of Make & Take Gourmet say they lost large sums of money on their stores after receiving false information concerning potential earnings from the company.

The franchisees are owners of former Make & Take locations in Camillus, Baldwinsville, and Clifton Park (in the Albany-Schenectady area). All three stores closed earlier this year.

The franchisees’ accusations are included in a lawsuit they filed against Make and Take Gourmet Holding, LLC and the company’s owners, Michele and David Bellso. The group filed the suit in June in Onondaga County State Supreme Court.